Heart of the Titan
by Tempest of Reach
Summary: AU, inspired by Pacific Rim. What if Malefor had looked elsewhere for allies? What if he had stretched out to the beyond, and found allies unlikely anything the world had ever seen? What if he had brought the great monsters known as Kajiu to fight his enemies? Its time to go big, or go extinct.
1. Chapter 1

The story of Malefor, the Dark Master, is one that all young ones are told. A dragon, unlike any other, born with the power to control all the elements. Under the eyes of the guardians, his powers grew daily, consuming the knowledge given to him but always hungering for more.

A hunger that led to the greatest evil to ever threaten the realms.

The secrets of the elements were not enough to satisfy his lust for power, and when the guardians refused to teach him more, he took it upon himself to delve into forbidden tomes, learning their secrets and expanding his powers even more.

His betrayal was discovered and his punishment rendered, sending him far from the lands of dragons to live in exile, and to perish alone in the harsh lands... But he did not. Instead, free from the shackles of civilization, he grew and flourished in ways that no one ever should.

Malefor struck an alliance with the species of apes, teaching them the ways of magic in return for their loyalty. Empowered by his lessons and dark magic, they became an army of terrors; his army to wage war against those that had turned on him.

Despite his amazing power and the dark army that served him, the Dark Master was vanquished. His spirit and essence were split apart and imprisoned. The Well of Souls, a pit of earth created by his own malice, was the prison of his spirit, while his power and essence were entrapped in Convexity, a place that existed on the border between reality and non-reality.

Little did they know that this imprisonment gave Malefor an opportunity to bring terrors upon the realms the likes of which had never been seen before. For from the realm of Convexity, he could reach out to other realms, other worlds, and influence them like he could influence our own.

It isn't known how many worlds the Dark Master reached out to, searching for power, searching for allies...searching for a means of revenge. All that is known is that he found them... Beings of immeasurable size and power. Beings that seemed to want nothing but to destroy and kill. Beings that he transported to our world through a rift in the deepest depths.

They call them Kaiju.

They were beasts larger than the mountains themselves. Their sheer might could rip apart the land itself, while their hides protected them from all but the strongest of strikes. When the first of them made landfall, it took the armies of the land weeks to vanquish the beast, such was its size and power.

The dead were mourned, the damage repaired, and lives went on. Then, the second made landfall, and the third. That was when people realized it wasn't going to stop. These forces of nature were not going to stop.

The species of the realm came together to discuss what had to be done. They knew that this was the work of Malefor, and the Kaiju were used to weaken defences before his army struck. However, they did not differ in their targets; they simply destroyed anything and everything in their path, so it was known that it was not the dragons' fight alone.

Ancient knowledge, long forgotten, was searched out and brought to light. Alliances that had never been seen in the world before were forged to stand against this new threat. Inventions crafted from the joint efforts of the greatest minds changed the world forever.

To fight monsters, the realms built monsters of their own. Golems crafted from gems and metals, linked to the mind of the pilot and amplifying their magical powers. It did not go smoothly. The sheer size of the golems made it difficult, though possible, for an individual to control them. So a dual-pilot system was implemented, sharing the mental load between them.

They were called Jaeger, hunters of the beasts that threatened the land.

This is the story of the end of the war. This is the story of the last of the Jaegers and how they could do what others could not. This is the story of the return of the Dark Master.

This is the story of Heart of the Titans.

* * *

"Hey, Spyro, get up!"

The voice, familiar, cheerful and bright, pierced through the veil of sleep to reach Spyro's brain. The young dragon stirred at the sound, slowly coming to the realm of wakefulness.

"Spyro, c'mon! Get up!" the voice insisted as Spyro opened his eyes, blinking them against the light as his jaws parted to let a yawn escape. He focused on the yellow glow in front of him.

"'Bout time you woke up. Now c'mon, we're gonna be late!" the glow persisted, forming into a young dragonfly before Spyro's eyes as he climbed out of bed.

"Alright, Sparx, I'm up! Go wait by the door, I'll be with you soon."

The dragonfly grumbled at this, but went away just as requested, allowing the purple dragon some peace and quiet as he stretched out, working out any kinks that had developed during his sleep. Spyro looked around his room. Small, but tidy, the bedroom consisted of a bed, a desk, and a raised basin that was filled with water. He considered the basin for a while before shaking his head and stepping away. Instead, he stepped over to his desk and picked up the bag that was resting there. Head though the strap, it was soon pressed against his side as he left his bedroom.

Sparx was hovering by the door just down the corridor, as requested. However, he wasn't alone. Leaning against the wall, arms crossed, was another dragon. Instead of being on all fours like most others, this dragon was more like the moles and cheetahs with two legs and two arms. He was wingless, with gray scales and eyes. Strangely, there were splotches of blue across his body, as if someone had dripped blue paint onto him and it hadn't washed off.

"Morning, Kagan," Spyro greeted, giving the odd dragon a warm smile as he walked up to the two.

"Hey, Spyro, ready for another routine day at school?" Kagan said back with a smile of his own, stepping away from the wall. On his back was a bag similar to Spyro's.

The purple dragon nodded in answer and, as Kagan pushed open the door, turned to face Sparx. "Mum and Dad already gone out?"

"Yep, they're out working again," the dragonfly said as he flew down to sit on Spyro's head, next to his left horn. "We hardly get to see them in the mornings anymore," he complained, only to get sharply rebuked by Kagan.

"At least you have parents to go home to!" Both Spyro and Sparx winced at the gray dragon's harsh words, knowing just what a sore spot parents were for him. Still, his next words were in a more controlled manner. "Besides, would you rather have Flash and Nina not be here in the mornings when you're going to school, or not be here in the evenings when you're coming home from school?"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Sparx said, rolling his eyes at Kagan's statement, having heard it so many times before. "What can I say? I'm selfish. I want my parents to be able to send me off to school in the morning, and be there when I come back."

"I suppose there's worse things to be selfish about," Kagan said, reluctantly admitting to this fact as they began to descend the stairs of the flat they lived in. They were lucky in that they were on the lower floors of the building, and didn't have to walk far. "Though, knowing what you're like, Sparx, you're probably selfish for everything as well."

"Hey, I'm selfish but not that selfish, thank you very much. I'm rather happy with my life as it is, thanks."

"Yeah, yeah," Kagan said with a dismissive wave of a claw, a bored expression on his face. "So you say, Sparx, but excuse me for not quite believing that."

Spyro just rolled his eyes at the two, tuning out their banter and arguing. It wasn't exactly hard, as they seemed to always be arguing about the exact same subjects and never reached an agreement or a truce. Then again, Kagan seemed to purposefully disagree with Sparx just to annoy the dragonfly. By the time they stopped arguing, the trio had left their apartment and had walked down the street, where someone called out to them.

"Hey Spyro! Sparx!"

A smile graced Spyro's lips as he turned to face the street junction to his left, seeing two dragons walking towards him. They were around Spyro's age, and both had a bag by their sides. One was similar to Spyro, but a little bigger and more muscular, with a bright red colouration. The other was smaller and slimmer than both of them, a dragoness, pink in colour with a heart-shaped amulet clasped around her neck. Spyro swung his head back round to Kagan, opening his mouth to speak, only for the bipedal dragon to beat him to the punch.

"Well, I best get going. See you two at school." Without waiting for a reply, Kagan turned and moved away, breaking into a run. Spyro watched him go with a sigh, even as the two young dragons approached.

"Mr Loner still avoiding us, huh?" the red dragon said, looking sideways down the street to where Kagan was still running, putting distance between himself and them. Shrugging his wings, he turned to Spyro. "I don't get why you're friends with him."

"Flame!" the pink dragoness scolded, only to get another shrug in reply.

"Just saying, Ember, Kagan avoids pretty much everyone, so how he actually has friends is beyond me."

"He'll come round to you two," Spyro said optimistically as he started walking again, the others falling in next to him. "Just needs time, that's all. He's a rather...independent dragon."

"Spyro, it's been ten years since he first came to Warfang. If he still avoids people now, I doubt he'll be changing his mind anytime soon," Flame said with a slight scoff, only to be surprised when Spyro silently walked ahead, the sudden movement dislodging Sparx from his perch on his head. Ember glared at Flame.

"Will you think for a few moments before opening your mouth?" she snapped before hurrying forwards to catch up with Spyro, leaving the stupefied Flame behind.

"What did I say?" he asked bewilderedly.

Sparx sat down in front of Flame's horn, shaking his head as he said, "I wouldn't even begin to try and understand Spyro when it comes to Kagan. He confuses even me."

Meanwhile, Ember had managed to catch up with Spyro and gave him a gentle nuzzle, both to get his attention and to comfort him. Giving the purple dragon a smile when he turned to face her, she said gently, "Don't pay any attention to what Flame says. He's an idiot whose mouth works faster than his brain."

"But he's right," Spyro said as he turned away from Ember, trying to get control over himself, not wanting his friend to see just how distraught it was. "He's been here for ten years, Ember, and he hasn't opened up to anyone, not even me! He's friendly enough around me and Sparx, as well as Mum and Dad, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was only because he lives with us..."

"Don't say that," Ember said, nuzzling Spyro again as she scrambled for words to say. "You...you're like brothers, just like you and Sparx. Sure, he might be a bit...cold among others, but I'm sure he considers you and Sparx good friends."

Spyro simply shook his head at this as he looked back at Ember. "Do you know that, despite the ten years he's been here, I've never seen Kagan frightened? I've never seen him angry, never seem him sad, or nervous or excited... He's only friendly around my family, and cold around the others."

Ember couldn't keep the surprise from showing on her face at this information, making Spyro give a slow nod before continuing. "Kagan may seem to have a strong bond with me and Sparx, but it's one-sided. We both consider Kagan to be a second brother, but he doesn't... He doesn't open up to anyone, not even when alone. It's like...he's completely detached from his emotions, and I just know that it's not healthy to be living like that."

The two dragons fell silent at this. Spyro wondered why the dragon he considered as a brother kept himself away so much, whilst Ember searched for a way to comfort and reassure her friend, but found herself unable to come up with anything at all. Because of this, neither of them said anything as Flame tentatively crept up to join them. He kept quiet as he did so; he wasn't that blind not to know when his friends weren't in the mood to talk.

After about ten minutes of walking, they began to approach their school...but something was different this time around. With wide eyes, Flame examined the large crowd that had gathered in front of the main gate, consisting not just of dragons of different ages, but cheetahs, wolves, moles, griffons, snakes and many other species that had been allowed to call Warfang home. Turning to the others, he spoke.

"Hey, guys, check out the crowd!"

The two stirred out of their respective thoughts and noticed the crowd for the first time, coming to a halt as they stared at the large number gathered around the main gate.

"With a crowd like that, something big is happening," Flame said as he turned back to face the crowd, growing excited at the prospect. "Oh, I really hope it affects us in some way. I really don't want to go through another boring, ordinary day."

Shaking his head at Flame's excitement, Spyro turned away from the crowd. "Come on, we obviously aren't going to be able to get through the main gate with a crowd like that."

The purple dragon led his friends around the side of the school to the smaller gate, where a small trickle of students was moving though. The three dragons and one dragonfly slipped through into the courtyard.

There was a big crowd in the courtyard as well, but unlike the crowd outside, the age range was much smaller, due to the vast majority of them being students of the school. Here and there, though, they were able to see some of the staff members also in the crowd, all looking towards the middle of the courtyard.

Though they could hardly see over the top of their fellow students, the four friends were easily able to see the fire-red dragon that towered above the rest. His orange wings furled close to his body, though they could no longer fold against his side, making him an imposing figure magnified by the aura of power surrounding him. However, this was counteracted by the softness in his expression and the wisdom of his stance and aura.

Upon seeing this dragon, Flame's eyes widened in surprise and excitement. "Ignitus! That's Ignitus standing there!"

His friends glanced at him in surprise before turning to examine the big dragon once more with varying degrees of excitement.

"That big guy is the flame guardian? What is he doing here?" Sparx said, echoing the question that all of them were thinking. Before anyone could voice their suggestions or ideas, someone called out to them.

"Hey, guys, over here!" Kagan called out, beckoning them over. Spyro and Sparx exchanged a surprised glance at this. Not only was Kagan actually asking to spend time with Flame and Ember, but he actually sounded...excited, instead of his usual calm self. Whatever was going on was most definitely big.

Flame was the first one to reach Kagan, his dislike for the gray dragon forgotten in his excitement as he asked, "What's going on; why is Ignitus here?"

"Not sure," Kagan replied, already turning back to look at the guardian. "All I know is that Ignitus is going to be making an announcement at nine, and that he's currently talking with the headmaster."

Spyro glanced towards the school building, looking at the big clock set in the middle of its front. The minute hand was only a few ticks away from reaching the 12, meaning that they did not have much longer to wait.

"A guardian sure explains why there's such a large crowd outside," Ember said, turning her head in the opposite direction to Spyro's in order to examine the people gathered outside of the main gate, not being allowed access into the courtyard. "I wouldn't be surprised if all of Warfang has heard of the guardian's surprise visit by now."

"Considering the reports on the front, I'm surprised that a guardian even has time to be here," Kagan said, his eyes staying on Ignitus. Though excited, he had a thoughtful, calculating look on his face. "The fatality rate's been climbing rapidly, and we're losing Jaegers faster than we can make them. I wonder if that's got anything to do with why he's here..."

"Doubt it," Flame snorted, shaking his head. "We aren't considered adults, remember? Yeah, those Kaiju don't give a damn about our age, but children fighting in a war? I wouldn't be surprised if the guardians would die before they let us fight."

"Perhaps...but the front is getting worse. Sometimes, when faced with extinction, you have to use methods of ill-moral in order to survive," Kagan said coolly, causing Spyro and Ember to exchange an uneasy glance. They didn't like thinking much about the front, about the fight against the Kaiju, as the situation was slowly becoming more and more dire. If it continued...

Before the conversation could continue, the bell began to ring. Nine tolls, indicating the time. Almost as one, the crowd became silent, an expectant hush as Ignitus raised his head away from the wolf that was the headmaster of the school. Ignitus looked around, scanning the whole crowd once over before speaking.

"Greetings. As I am sure you know, I am Ignitus, the guardian of fire. I wish I was here for a pleasant reason, but I am afraid that is not the case." Murmurs quickly broke out at these words, fear creeping into the mood of the crowd as Ignitus continued. "As you might have heard, the situation at the front has grown dire. The amount of suitable replacements for the lost Jaeger pilots has dwindled significantly. With the lives of so many on the line, it is with a heavy heart that the leaders of the Alliance have agreed to seek out replacement pilots in those not yet adults."

The crowd quickly came to life again at this information. The fact that the stark reality was brought to their attention so bluntly and suddenly chilled many to the bone. However, to some, the idea of fighting, the idea of becoming a Jaeger pilot, greatly excited them, though even that was tempered with fear. Ignitus waited a few moments, allowing the crowd to discuss this news between their friends and neighbours before speaking up once more.

"That is why I am here today. To ask for volunteers willing to accept a test to see if it is possible for you to become Jaeger pilots. That being said, I do not desire for an answer now. I would prefer if you think over your decision, as it is not something to be taken lightly. I have talked with your headmaster and he has agreed that, unless someone can reasonably answer my request now, I will leave and return at around noon to receive your answers."

Once more, the crowd became very noisy. Dragons discussed if they should volunteer or not, whether or not it was worth the risk, and how high the risk actually was. However, they were soon silenced as a voice spoke up, rising clearly over the sound of the crowd to make itself heard, calm and firm.

"I volunteer."

Ignitus turned around towards the sound of the voice. The crowd turned and stepped apart, opening a passageway for the guardian to look though, revealing a group of three dragons and a dragonfly looking in shock and surprise at their bipedal friend.

Without missing a beat, Kagan strode forwards through the crowd, leaving his friends watching on in shock. Soon he was standing before Ignitus, looking up at the large dragon without a single shred of fear. Ignitus examined him for a few moments, silently approving of his confidence, but disapproving of his lack of fear. "And why are you so eager? Do you truly understand the risk of what I am asking?"

"The fatality rate of a Jaeger pilot's first battle is ninety percent. The life expectancy of Jaeger pilots is currently six months and declining rapidly. Jaegers are being destroyed twice as fast as we can make them, and all but three launching stations have been destroyed, with the Kaiju landing rate increasing exponentially. There are currently only ten Jaegers left to fight, half of which have lost their pilots."

Even Ignitus was stunned into silence at this reply. To have the facts recounted so easily and confidently by one not part of the war was a shock in itself, but the picture that the facts painted was a bleak one that had almost no future for anyone. Kagan let the information sink in, letting the crowd realize what this meant, letting the horrors of the front come to their minds, before speaking up again.

"Yes. I understand the risk. However, I am willing to accept it. Here, I am useless, powerless and wingless. I cannot help society in any way. But in a Jaeger, all that matters is your fighting skills, regardless of your body. I will fight because I understand the risks, I understand my future if I don't...and I understand that, at times like these, at the edge of extinction, is the time when miracles come forth and legends are created."

Ignitus considered Kagan for another few moments before nodding in acceptance. "Very well. I accept your answer."

Kagan nodded before Ignitus turned away, speaking out to the crowd once more. "You now all see the risk that I am asking for you to take. I still desire for you all to take your time before making your decision, but I ask now: do any of now want to fight?"

As the crowd came alive once more, Ember turned to her old friends, seeing the thoughtful, considering looks in their eyes. Flame was looking at Kagan, whilst Spyro's eyes were on Ignitus.

"Flame... Spyro..." she whispered, knowing her friends all too well, knowing exactly what was going through their minds, what their decisions would be.

Almost as one, they turned, giving her small sad smiles. Noticing this, they shared a look, nodding in unison before stepping forwards and speaking out. "We volunteer!"

Once more, Ignitus's head swung round to consider those that had spoken up as they came forward. Two young dragons on the cusp of adulthood, one bright red and the other a deep purple. The guardian mumbled something to himself, something that only Kagan heard.

"The purple dragon... If he is willing, now we might stand a chance." Ignitus did not notice the sharp look he got from the gray dragon, focused as he was on the two young dragons that came to stand before him. He opened his mouth to address them, but Flame beat him to the punch, announcing as soon as they got to the centre.

"From the sounds of it, unless there is a miracle, within a year, two if we are lucky, we'll be dead. If these monsters are to kill me, I will not wait for them to kill me as a faceless ant. I will take the fight to them."

Ignitus nodded his head in acceptance, though sorrowfully, knowing that he couldn't change Flame's mind. He then looked to Spyro for his reasoning.

The purple dragon simply said, "Someone has to fight. It might as well be me."

The fire guardian sighed at this, but once again nodded his head in acceptance as others began to step forwards, agreeing with the ideals presented to them by three young dragons. Each held a different view, yet all were determined to fight for their lives, for their homes, for their comrades.

Among those stepping forward, Ember joined her friends. "Someone's got to keep you boys out of trouble, and no one's better at it than me."

Whilst Spyro and Flame smiled gratefully at Ember, Kagan just nodded in acceptance before commenting, "Then, let us see who is worthy of being a Jaeger pilot."


	2. Chapter 2

Despite Kagan's dramatic remark, and the fact that a lot of people had volunteered themselves to fight, Ignitus didn't start testing to see who was capable of piloting a Jaeger right away. Instead, he stated that the testing would happen after school, which not only meant that their education would not be too badly interrupted, but it would give everyone more time to think over their decision. This gave them the chance to back out if they decided that they had been rash, or volunteer after mulling the risks over.

This announcement, of course, had various reactions. A lot of the volunteers, like Flame, were disgruntled and wanted to get the testing done right away, not seeing any reason to do the extra day at school when they were about to leave it. But Ignitus had already made up his mind and discussed it with the headmaster, so they couldn't do anything about it.

Other volunteers were confused - like Spyro and Ember - unsure as to the point of having an extra day at school but guessing that Ignitus had his reasons. That, and they most likely did not have any problems with school itself. So, though confused, they accepted it, though discussed it between themselves.

The smallest reaction was like Kagan. They were neither disgruntled or confused. Instead, they simply accepted the decision. Perhaps they knew the reasoning behind it, or they simply didn't care for the reasoning. So, they accepted it without question or discussion.

No matter their thoughts on the decision, they all went through their school day. Restless and distracted perhaps, but there weren't any particular problems caused by it, no more trouble from people than the norm. At the end of the school day, at three o'clock, a larger crowd than in the morning stayed in the courtyard to await Ignitus' return, the red dragon coming back fifteen minutes after school officially ended. Unlike before, he didn't come alone, however, as he had a mole with him. Ignitus let the mole off his back before observing the crowd for some time. After a few moments, he nodded to himself and spoke.

"It heartens me to see so many brave youngsters willing to risk their lives to fight. Just as much as it saddens me that you have to fight at all. However, your lives play out from now on. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for being willing to sacrifice yourself in this battle."

The crowd murmured again at this. It wasn't every day that a guardian thanked you, after all. Ignitus gave them all a few moments for his comments to sink in before continuing. "Despite your bravery, not all of you will be able to fight, because not everyone has the ability to pilot a Jaeger. However, your bravery is noted, and even if you cannot pilot a Jaeger, you can still help in maintaining, repairing and building them, as well as various other tasks where your bravery and willingness to fight will still be ultizerized, if you are willing, of course."

Ignitus didn't wait for the crowd to quieten down and instead turned to the equipment that had been set up in the morning, remaining untouched thanks to the runic enchantments placed on it. With a few arcane words, the barrier in place shimmered before vanishing, allowing everyone access to it.

The equipment, in terms of basic appearances, was rather simple. Two adjustable helmets, attached by wires to a box that was about three-quarters the size of a young dragon, if lying down instead of standing up. However, the colouration and the materials that it was made of made the equipment significantly more unique. It was all made from gemstones; Spirit Gems, in actual fact, and not the normal, natural type created from the flow of energy in the earth. These were created and modified to have the strength of the Spirit Gems, yet serve a purpose without being destroyed.

The helmets and boxes were a purplish blue, showing that they had the affinity of the mind, like the normal blue spirit gems, but with the power of the purple spirit gems. The wires, meanwhile, were a mixture of green and red wrapped around one another, representing the spirit gem's ability to transfer energy, health, or in this case, information, from one location to the next.

It was an unusual piece of equipment, and to many, its purpose was lost. Those that had studied the Jaegers, however, would quickly notice the similarities. It was very similar to the neural suits that the pilots used to interface themselves with their Jaeger. As the test was to see if the volunteers were able to pilot a Jaeger, it made sense that there would be similarities between the two.

"That sure is fancy gear," Sparx commented upon seeing it, not really expecting anyone else to say anything, though he got a few nods of agreement before Ignitus spoke up.

"This is our simulator." As he spoke, Ignitus stepped forwards to pick up one of the helmets and adjusting it expertly before placing it over his head. "Using it, we shall first see if you are capable of forming a mental link. Now, I know that it's said that only those that are drift compatible can create a neural handshake, but in reality, anyone with the capability of forming a link can create a neural handshake. Those that are drift compatible are the people able to form a strong enough link that it can survive the burden of piloting and fighting in a Jaeger. Does that all make sense?"

The vast majority of the crowd nodded, and those that didn't either had to think about it for a little while, had a friend explain it, or simply weren't able to grasp how the Jaegers worked at all. Ignitus finished strapping on his helmet before continuing. "Once a neural handshake has been created, the simulator will trick your mind to believe that you are in a Jaeger, about to fight against a Kaiju. It will test your brain's ability to understand and control a body so alien and different to yours, and how you use it in battle."

The guardian scanned the crowd, looking for someone. Soon, his eyes settled on the gray and blue dragon standing with his friends. "Kagan, isn't it? As you were the first to volunteer, would you like to be tested first?"

"Actually, I would rather go last," Kagan said to the surprise of his friends, Ignitus and the vast majority of the crowd. "Instead, I suggest Flame could be tested first, followed by Spyro, as they were the second."

The guardian took a few moments to recover to reply, but when he did, he nodded. "I agree. I was going to call on them to test second, but as you do not want to test first, it makes sense to test them instead."

Without waiting to be asked, once Ignitus confirmed that he was going to be tested, Flame strode forwards out of the crowd and grabbed the other helmet. To his annoyance, though, he needed the mole's help in adjusting it to fit. Once it was done, the mole slipped behind the box. Fiddling a little with the previous unseen controls, the mole got everything ready. He didn't start the machine, though, until he glanced at Ignitus and got a nod of confirmation.

The machine hummed as it was activated. Light streaked up the wires to the helmets, making them glow as they were activated. Ignitus closed his eyes, saying quietly, "Close your eyes."

Flame hurriedly obeyed moments before he felt his mind slipping away from his body, yet at the same time, stayed.

Memories flooded through his mind. His own memories, recent and old, ones that he could easily recall and ones that he had thought long forgotten. These memories were most prominent. However, he also got glimpses and flashes of other memories. Ignitus's memories. There were so many of them, running across his mind like a whirlwind, too fast and chaotic for them to make any impression.

Eventually, these memories faded away, replaced with a multitude of new sensations... No, not new sensations, doubled from the norm. Two hearts beating, two lungs breathing, two brains thinking. As one, Ignitus and Flame opened their eyes, allowing the joined pair to see the crowd before them in two entirely different ways.

"Woah..." Flame breathed, hearing the voice that he knew very well, as well as the different, higher-pitched voice that everyone else heard. However, this awe was twinned with fear, as the link joined him completely with Ignitus. The guardian could see who he was, completely and utterly. No mask, no words, no body. His soul and mind were exposed in their entirety for the very first time.

Ignitus turned to Flame and smiled reassuringly at him. The action was unnecessary, of course, as Flame could feel the reassurance through their link, as well as the warmth that Ignitus held for him; for all, in fact. There was pride, not only for these young ones for being willing to fight, but of Flame specifically for being able to hold a connection so strongly and not to back away out of fear.

Ignitus also held a deep sadness, knowing that so many younglings would likely die in the coming months, knowing that the strength of Flame's connection meant he would be one of the most likely to fight and fight often, increasing the chance of him dying so early. Especially when he had a strong bond with his close friends.

All this Flame felt in the instant it took for Ignitus to turn and smile at him. The young red dragon saw his own body, saw himself turn to look back at Ignitus and smile back, appreciating the gesture from the guardian, even if it wasn't necessary. Ignitus nodded before turning to the mole, Flame picking up on Ignitus' respect and affection to the mole as he spoke. "Marlon, please start up the simulation."

"On it," Marlon said with a nod.

Ignitus turned to look to the crowd once more and closed his eyes. Flame followed suit again, his heart beginning to beat quickly in excitement. He was about to know what it was like to pilot a Jaeger, to pilot the massive machines which defended them all against the Kaiju threat.

In an instant, Flame could no longer hear the crowd. He could no longer hear the hustle and bustle of Warfang behind him. Nor could he smell his friends or the mixed scents of the many races that lived in Warfang. He couldn't even feel a gentle breeze of the wind, or the feel of the stone courtyard beneath his claws.

Instead, Flame heard the hum of power, of gem-tech working around him. He smelt the sharp tang of metal as well as the powerful odour of smoke. Instead of being on all fours on a stone courtyard, he now stood on two legs, supported by various devices, whilst his bottom claws were covered in a cold case.

The biggest change, however, was his sense of self. Before, he had his own young, still developing body and, after making the mind link, Ignitus' large old body. Now, he didn't really feel either, not compared to the absolutely titanic humanoid body he felt around his own. It was like nothing he had ever experienced or ever thought it would be.

They had all seen the pictures, the comparisons of a Jaeger to a town or mountain. But to actually _feel_ how big the Jaeger was, to feel a direct comparison of his own body of flesh and blood to the Jaeger's body of metal and power was mind boggling. So much so that his mind was struggling to comprehend its sheer size and weight.

'_Open your eyes,' _Ignitus' voice floated to Flame out of nowhere, making him jerk in supports around him moved at the motion, though the Jaeger itself did not. He couldn't feel Ignitus' body or emotions, so he didn't think that he was still present at all. Though, he supposed that, as it was a simulation, he wasn't meant to feel Ignitus anymore.

Flame soon followed the order he was given and opened his eyes, letting him see the inside of the cockpit for the first time, something he looked around to fully see. It was made completely out of metal, a large support hanging from the ceiling, clinging to his back and helping him stay upright as well as connecting him to the machine. In front and above him was a unit, a screen on it with several buttons that he didn't know what they did. Wires were tucked away, coiled up along the sides or hanging from the ceiling in loops, all with a black covering. The back of the cockpit had several tubes from ceiling to floor, with a door situated in the middle.

The young dragon soon looked forwards once more, looking through the windscreen of the Jaeger. Not only that, but he could see though the machine's sensors, its 'eyes', which gave him a field of view to be able to fight effectively at such a large size and scale. Simply looking through the windscreen would restrict his view too much, and with the battles as tough as they currently were, the change would be lethal.

Currently, Flame couldn't see much in front of him. Just waves lapping against his legs, though he couldn't feel the waves. It took Flame a moment to realize that the waves were bigger than he was, and the legs they were lapping at were the Jaeger's legs. Though, to him, there was little difference between the two.

Before Flame could process any more information and explore his surroundings, a roar thundered as a massive beast rose out from the waves in front of him. It was a monster of unnatural proportions and shapes, a mishmash of mammalian, aquatic and reptilian features, some recognizable, others completely alien. Upon seeing it, Flame's eyes widened as he whispered its name.

"Kaiju..."

There was no more time to think, no more time to be awed or terrified by the monstrosity in front of him, as it lunged forwards, smashing against the metal body of the Jaeger. Flame felt as if he was punched in the chest as he and the Jaeger took a step back from the force of the ram. A display appeared in front of Flame's view, displaying the Jaeger and noting the damage done to it by the attack. It wasn't much, only a five percent decrease of structural integrity to the torso, but it was damage nonetheless.

"My turn," Flame said, clenching a claw and swinging it forwards, bringing the Jaeger's large first round to the monster, slamming into its head and sending it reeling. Flame felt a surge of triumph and satisfaction fighting back against the Kaiju. He tried to punch forwards with his other fist, but that was when a serious problem became apparent.

Flame's mind was simply unable to handle the titanic size of the machine it was now attached to. Whilst it could handle one side of the body, one punch, it struggled to properly control the second side. The rapid switch between the two sides was too much, leading to a long delay as the second fist came up, enough time for the Kaiju to recover and strike first.

The monster lunged forwards, its claws grabbing hold of the Jaeger's shoulder whilst the other grabbed the fist that Flame had been struggling to control, allowing it to bring its jaws crunching down on the arm. Its fangs cleaved right though the arm as its powerful muscles crushed the metal completely.

Flame yelled out in surprise and pain. The feedback wasn't complete so the pain was vastly reduced, yet it still felt like knives were being jabbed into his arm. The arm turned red in the display as it took critical damage from the Kaiju, the situation quickly turning against Flame. Yet he was not going to give up without a fight.

Fighting through the pain, Flame struck, slamming the Jaeger's right fist into the Kaiju's head, dazing it and allowing Flame to strike again and again before grabbing its neck. With a tremendous heave, Flame managed to momentarily pick the Kaiju up off the ocean floor before tossing it away with a huge splash, granting Flame a momentary respite.

The young dragon reached for the central console, flicking through it to see what weaponry the Jaeger had installed on it, knowing that fists alone wouldn't be able to stop, let alone kill the Kaiju in front of him. Once the options came up, Flame muttered a curse under his breath at the options given. All it had was short range blades, no ranged weaponry at all, unlike the vast majority of the modern Jaegers.

"A weapon's a weapon," Flame said pragmatically as he deployed the blade quickly, knowing that he would need everything he had to stand a chance against the Kaiju with his Jaeger already injured and his inability to fully control the robot. The fact that this was actually a simulation and not a real fight was completely forgotten. To Flame, he was the only thing that stood between the Kaiju and the lives of several thousand civilians behind him, and he would do everything he could to win.

The monster had recovered by now and roared its defiance at the Jaeger. Flame replied by lifting his one good arm, pointing the blade at the beast, ready to fight with everything he could. This time, there wouldn't be any more respites or breaks. This next clash would decide the outcome of the battle, who won and who died.

With another roar, the Kaiju charged, its movements shaking the ground with each step, water surging up into the air as the Kaiju's arms and legs slammed down into the ocean. Flame felt his heart pounding in his chest and his lungs beginning to heave as he watched the Kaiju approach, every muscle in his body tense and ready to fight.

Then, the two met.

Flame swung his blade, trying to fend off the monster and inflict serious damage on it. He swung too high, however, and the Kaiju managed to duck underneath it. The blade sheared over the top of the beast's head, but it was just skin and muscle, with the bone of its skull left untouched. Not stopping in its momentum, it crashed into Flame, wrapping its arms around the Jaeger as they both crashed to the ground. Flame lurched backwards in the cockpit at the impact, though the supports managed to stop him from smashing into the back.

As he struggled to recover, Flame watched as the Kaiju reared up, bringing its claws smashing back down onto his Jaeger's torso, shredding and smashing all at once. Flame roared out at the agony that blossomed through his chest, a burning, cutting pain that made it hard for him to continue fighting, especially as the Kaiju began to savagely claw at his chest.

Gritting his teeth, Flame fought through the pain as best as he could, bringing his right arm round to stab and slash at the Kaiju, its toxic blue blood spilling from the wounds. Yet it carried on undeterred. Even when Flame managed to slice right through its arm, its relentless, savage assault did not let up. Flame was unable to do anything but watch the structural integrity of his Jaeger's torso rapidly plummet into the red zone before hitting zero.

With the reactor exposed, the Kaiju drew its claw back for the finishing strike. The young dragon closed his eyes as he waited for the end, for the price of his failure...but it did not come. Instead, everything faded away; the feel of the supports, the smell of metal and the hum of power...all replaced by more familiar textures, scents and sounds.

Flame found himself panting and trembling as Malon carefully took the helmet off. The machine had been powered down when the simulation ended. Ember and Spyro came forwards to check on their friend, worry on their faces as Ember asked anxiously, "Are you alright?"

For the first few seconds, Flame said nothing. His friends grew even more worried for him as the silence stretched on... but eventually, he spoke, saying morosely "I lost..."

"Most lose the fight, young dragon," Ignitus said, walking over to stand next to the three friends, looking down sympathetically at Flame as he spoke. "There are not many beings in this world able to control a Jaeger all by themselves, let alone pilot one effectively enough to beat a Kaiju without any training. For what it's worth, you fought well. Not many are able to wound the Kaiju as much as you did."

Flame offered a small, tired smile in response, understanding and accepting Ignitus' reassurance, before turning to face Spyro, telling his still anxious friend, "Go ahead and have your turn. I'll be fine. It was just a little...intense, that was all."

Spyro inspected Flame for a few moments in silence, judging for himself if his friend was going to be alright. Eventually, he nodded and stepped away, placing the helmet on and allowing Marlon to fit it as Flame and Ember moved away.

"How do you feel?" Ember asked, not happy with the state of her friend after he went through that simulation, starting to believe that it was a cruel thing to put them through.

Flame smiled tiredly back. "Like I've run a marathon...without the muscle ache."

The two of them fell back to Kagan as Spyro closed his eyes to begin the simulation himself. The red dragon was swarmed a bit by the crowd wanting to know what it was like; if it was scary, if it was enjoyable, and many other questions. At least until Ember scowled and pushed them back, giving Flame space with her glare.

"It was...intense," said Flame. "And yes, facing down a Kaiju, even when you're in a Jaeger, is scary. Nothing fun about facing one of those things down and fighting for your life. You won't remember it's a simulation during the fight, all you'll care about is winning, about killing the Kaiju...about living and saving the lives of those on shore. You'll also be surprised by the sheer size of a Jaeger. Seeing pictures or even actually seeing a real Jaeger is one thing...but being connected to it, controlling it? That's something else entirely."

Flame didn't say anything else after this and eventually the crowd withdrew to talk among themselves. Flame gave a silent sigh of relief at this, glad to have a respite from the crowd and a few moments to get his breath back. Though, by the time the crowd had swarmed him, Ember had got them to back off, and Flame had said his piece, several minutes had passed already. So it was not long before the machine powered down as Spyro's simulation ended.

Unlike Flame, Spyro wasn't panting or trembling. He seemed calm as he took his helmet off and moved back to his friends, and Ignitus called out the next person to go through the simulation. As the purple dragon approached, however, they were able to see the tension in his body and the weariness in his eyes. It had been no easier on him than it had been on Flame; he simply was able to control it better. Sparx flew over to his brother and landed on top of his head, saying nothing and just letting his presence lend Spyro support.

"Hard, isn't it?" Flame said sympathetically to his friend. Spyro looked at him and nodded silently in agreement, not really having any desire to talk right now. Flame noticed and respected this, leaving Spyro be. That being said, he wasn't exactly a dragon to keep quiet for long, either, and soon spoke up once more. "So, Sparx, is all of this scaring you or something? It's not like you to be so quiet."

"It's not scary," Sparx said indignantly in reply, rising up from Spyro's head to face Flame with his arms crossed. "I'm simply quiet because all you bozos are being so dull and solemn that there's been nothing for me to say, and even my extremely witty humour wouldn't cheer you guys up."

"Oh, is that your excuse?" Flame said, sounding surprised as he nodded at Sparx's words. "I have to admit, that is one of your longest excuses yet. I'm surprised you even managed to think of it."

"It's not an excuse!"

Spyro began to tune the two of them out, their arguments so common that he could easily let them blend into the background. Still, just hearing his friends bickering brought a strange, slight smile onto his face. Something about the two antagonizing each other was...strangely comforting.

The purple dragon watched several people come and go for the test. The vast majority of them were unable to make or maintain the neural handshake, meaning that they couldn't be accepted. For those that did manage to enter the simulation, the majority of them didn't last that long. Only about one percent of them were equal to Flame...or himself...

"It's strange," Spyro said, his voice quiet, yet it was still enough to shut Flame and Sparx up as they both turned to face him. "Despite them being monsters with no other purpose but destruction, to see it dead made me sad to see such an impressive creature devoid of life..."

Spyro's comment had the others reflect somberly on this comment, before Flame perked up suddenly.

"Wait, hold on. You saw it dead? You killed it?!" The red dragon was very surprised at this information. He had expected that his friend was simply reflecting on an experience very similar to himself, as Spyro was definitely more of a thinker than he was. But for Spyro - the dragon that often lost their little wrestling sessions the boys in school normally got into - to actually have defeated the Kaiju...it wasn't something he hadn't even considered.

Flame's exclamation had him raising his voice, gathering the attention of some of the nearby people of the crowd. When Spyro turned to face him and nodded in confirmation, the crowd really began to start talking. Spyro was a relatively well-known dragon. He was hardly a popular guy, but enough people knew about him for Spyro to be seen as a rather quiet but kind and gentle guy. It was a view that was not far off the mark, so to hear that Spyro of all people had managed to successfully kill the Kaiju, and not more fight-happy people like Flame, gave the crowd plenty to discuss.

"How did you beat it?" Flame asked, forgetting Spyro's original statement completely in his surprise and confusion. "I mean, you're not exactly the best fighter, Spyro, no offence, and the Jaeger is really hard to control, plus it's got really limited weaponry. So how did you win?"

"I didn't have any difficulty controlling the Jaeger," Spyro said calmly, his neutral, matter of fact tone making it take a few seconds for Flame to realize what his friend had just said, allowing Sparx to speak up first.

"No difficulties? Geez, bro, you're full of surprises, aren't you! Not only can you handle a giant-ass robot that normally requires the effort of two people to control, but you can use more-"

"Sparx!" Spyro cut in, his face becoming angry for a moment as he snapped at his brother. But Ember and the silent Kagan thought they detected something as well, something that surprised them both... Fear.

"Ooops, sorry.." Sparx said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Got a little excited, don't worry. I'm not gonna tell anyone."

Flame simply rolled his eyes at this exchange, muttering."Brothers and their secrets..." He then shook his head and turned his attention back to the purple dragon. "So, you had no issues controlling the Jaeger? I mean, I could control half of it easily, but when I tried to switch from one arm to the next, it took ages. Didn't help that the Jaeger was slower than the Kaiju even when I was controlling it."

"Actually..." Spyro said slowly, glancing at Flame before turning away as he continued. "For me, the Kaiju was slower than the Jaeger… Not by much, but it was enough to give me the edge and win."

"Huh...I guess there's more to the Jaeger control than being able to control its actions," Flame said as he turned away. His brow furrowed slightly as he reflected on the implications that Spyro's new information had brought up.

"They do have a savage majesty to them, and despite the fact that they are designed to be weapons of destruction, it is a shame to see such a beast slain," Kagan said quietly to Spyro, addressing what his brother had originally said that started the conversation. The purple dragon looked at the bipedal gray dragon in surprise at this, for it was not like him to show...well, any emotion at all, really, let alone speak of them. Kagan didn't look at Spyro, however, and said nothing else, leaving Spyro alone in his own thoughts.

Although the testing in itself only took a few minutes at most, the sheer number of people that had volunteered meant that it would take several hours to test everyone. Because of this, half an hour in, Ignitus began to let people already tested go, telling those that did pass to gather at the entrance of Warfang at nine tomorrow. Sparx and Flame had left, with Sparx leaving to tell his parents about his brother's decision. But Spyro and Ember stayed with Kagan as the minutes ticked by, and the sun started to set before they were the only three left.

Kagan stepped forwards, commenting, "Seems it's time for me to be tested."

Ignitus looked at the gray dragon for a few moments then nodded, looking past him to the only other people who were still waiting around as Kagan moved to get the helmet on.

"You have good friends," Ignitus said, only to get a shrug as Kagan finished strapping on the helmet.

"Spyro's my brother by adoption, and Ember's here more for Spyro's sake than my own."

"That's not true!" said pink dragon protested, glad that her pink scales hid her faint blush at Kagan's words as Spyro glanced at her at the comment.

Kagan simply shrugged at this before turning his head to face Malon."Can you start us up, please?"

The mole was a little surprised to be addressed by Kagan all of a sudden, and gave Ignitus an inquiring glance. The guardian nodded in answer and turned his attention inwards as the machine began to light up.

Spyro and Ember nearly jumped out of their scales when Ignitus suddenly roared out in pain, his claw coming up to get the helmet off his head. Malon hit the big red button to cut the machine's power before scrambling over to help get the helmet off Ignitus, who slumped to the ground, lungs heaving in pants as he tried to recover from the ordeal.

"Ignitus, what happened?" Malon asked in concern as Spyro and Ember came up too, worry plastered on their faces. The red dragon rubbed his head, looking blearily at the three surrounding him before he answered.

"I-I'm not quite sure. Instead of connecting to a young dragon, it felt like I was trying to connect to several Jaegers at once, as if the Jaegers were alive and hostile to me." Ignitus might have gone on and reflected more on the experience, but he was distracted when Spyro suddenly spoke up.

"Kagan, Kagan! Wake up!" he cried, having noticed that Kagan's eyes were closed, with his helmet still alight with energy. Turning to Malon, he demanded, "What's going on? Why is it still running?"

The mole quickly scrambled round to the back of the machine, examining the screen for a few moments before saying,"I don't understand... The simulation is running."

"Then stop it!"

"I can't," Malon said, shaking his head at Spyro's exclamation. "The machine shouldn't have any power, yet it's still running the simulation. The only option is to-" Suddenly, the screen went dark, as did the helmet that Kagan was wearing. Malon turned to face the gray dragon as he took the helmet off, finishing his statement. "-wait for it to finish..."

"What?" Kagan asked, puzzled by the fact that everyone was looking at him so strangely.

Ignitus took charge of the situation, asking gently,"Did you go through the simulation?"

Kagan blinked at this, before his eyes narrowed thoughtfully."Wait... You should know that...unless...the presence I felt was not you?"

"You felt a presence?"

"Yeah, I felt the presence of another dragon, fully grown adult. I couldn't really get anything from him, but I thought you just could keep yourself from fully joining from me. I'm guessing that's not the case?"

Ignitus shook his head at this."No, to me it felt like I was trying to join my mind with several Jaegers, alive and hostile."

"I...see," Kagan said slowly, making Spyro tilt his head slightly. With how Kagan had paused, the purple dragon thought that he was thinking things over, and such a small reply was not like him. "So...does this count me out? I managed to defeat the Kaiju in the simulation."

Ignitus and Marlon looked at each over for a few moments before the red dragon turned back to Kagan, saying, "Whilst normally your inability to connect to me at all would count you out, with the fact that you remained in the simulation and managed to defeat the Kaiju without the safety factor of myself, I believe we can make an exception."

"Tomorrow, we go to war."


	3. Chapter 3

"So let me get this straight. Despite creepy here causing Ignitus pain and connecting to something else entirely, and running the simulation even though the power had been turned off, he was allowed to join us simply because he won? Even though all those that couldn't make or maintain a neural handshake had been turned away?"

"I am not creepy."

"Ummm, hello? Tall, gray, emotionless dragon? What's not creepy about you?"

"I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but the lame-brain has a point."

"Thank you - Hey! Who are you calling a lame-brain?"

"You, of course, wasn't it obvious?"

"Sparx, Flame, that's enough," Spyro said firmly, cutting into the argument before it could really get going before turning to the flame dragon. "Look, I don't understand it myself, but I'm sure Ignitus has his reasons."

"Oh sure, you would said that," Flame scoffed as he rolled his eyes. "You practically worship the guardians!"

"I do not!"

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too!"

"Do-"

"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

Spyro and Flame cut off their own argument to turn to Kagan in confusion, whilst Ember simply rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath, "Boys."

Seeing the looks directed at him, the gray dragon shrugged. "Something's strange about me, that much is certain, and with how Ignitus felt pain, it's obviously not good. The dragon or whatever I connected to is likely hostile. Leaving me just in the world, especially after getting its attention, is risky. Better to have me under guard and watch so they can try and understand what's going on with me."

Kagan looked at the three dragons and dragonfly, noting their views of surprise and shock before shrugging again. "It's just a theory, though; it could be an entirely different reason why."

"See? Creepy," Flame said, though before he or anyone else could say anything more, they were interrupted by the sound of heavy wing-beats. Turning nearly as one, the group, along with the rest of the crowd, saw four large dragons fly over the walls of Warfang and land right in front of the gates.

One was green and brown, scarred and with an impressive muscular build. The second was yellow with a greyish purple secondary colouration; his eyes were excited and it seemed his mouth was in constant motion. Next to him was a blue and dark purple dragon, rolling his eyes at the babbling of his companion and carrying himself with pride and arrogance...and finally, a familiar red and orange dragon, one of renowned wisdom and kindness, who currently stepped forwards.

"The guardians..." Spyro said softly with awe, eyes wide as he examined them all. The stern Terrador, the energetic Volteer, the haughty Cyril, and the gentle, warm Ignitus.

"Everyone, thank you for gathering here today," the fire guardian said, pride obvious in his voice as he looked out over the crowd. For a brief moment, Spyro swore that his eyes lingered on him for a few moments, but it passed as Ignitus continued. "Despite the risks involved, you still volunteered for this duty. Even after you had a day to think it over and discuss it with your friends, family and loved ones, you still came here today. I thank you, all of you, for your willingness to fight."

Ignitus fell silent after this and stepped back. Terrador stepped forwards in turn, saying gruffly,

"You are all going to be transported to the Shatterdome. During the transport, you are all going to be given a designation starting with a single letter. Once we arrive, you are to split yourselves into groups according to the letter at the start of your designation, then you will be collected and taken further into the Shatterdome for debriefing. Do I make myself clear?"

There was some murmuring within the crowd, but no one spoke up and most nodded. Terrador looked over the crowd for a few moments before nodding in satisfaction and turning away.

"Then let us depart." With a nod to the moles waiting at either side of the giant doors, the earth guardian got them to work. As they pulled on the wheels, the chains clanked loudly as the gears and weights got to work, slowly opening up the doors to Warfang and revealing what waited outside for the crowd of near-adults that had gathered to fight.

Large hovercrafts, fitted with the latest in repulsor technology, waited to collect them. As the crowd began to move towards these transports, Flame nudged Spyro, bringing him out of his awe-filled inspection of the four guardians and whispering teasingly, "Guardian worshiper."

The purple dragon replied with a scowl, then strode forwards, making Flame chuckle before following.

Despite not being able to take part in the war effort, Sparx had managed to convince Flash and Nina to let him go with Spyro and Kagan to give them both moral support. That, and Sparx, for all his complaining and sometimes cowardice, was intensely loyal to Spyro and would likely follow after him even if not given permission. His education was brought up, but Sparx pointed out bluntly that he was a low-grade student, likely to fail his exams anyway, and whilst they did not want to face the facts, his parents eventually agreed to allow Sparx to go.

So, the group consisted of four dragons and one dragonfly. Two fire dragons, one purple dragon and a gray bipedal dragon. They walked alongside one another as they, and the crowd, moved to leave Warfang. To leave behind the lives they had known for almost eighteen long years, to leave behind the peace and security of the great city...and head to war alongside one another.

There was a bit of a waiting time and queue to get up onto the five hovercrafts, but people moved smoothly, so the wait was only about five to ten minutes long before they too were climbing into a faintly humming machine, settling into the seats and putting on the harness that would keep them in place. There they would stay for the next two hours as they were taken to the coast.

"Straight to the Shatterdome, huh? They really aren't waiting around," Flame commented once they had all settled in. They had been among some of the last to come into this particular hovercraft, even taking into account that it had three rows and two floors.

"With the situation as dire as creepy says it is, I'm not surprised," Sparx said, sitting carefully on Spyro's head. He was too small to have a harness, so he would have to rely on his ability to right himself if he got knocked from his perch, which was rather likely as the military grade hovercrafts weren't designed to have a particularly smooth ride.

"But don't we need training?" Ember asked in concern, remembering clearly how her fight with the Kaiju had gone and how easily she had been destroyed by it. As she spoke, the light hum of the machine deepened and grew a little bit more powerful as it lifted up off the ground. Sparx fluttered his wings in order to not be knocked from Spyro's head at the gentle jostling.

"The Kaiju aren't the only enemy," Kagan said, getting everyone's attention once more as the hovercraft started on its way. Seeing the eyes on him again, the gray dragon sighed and said, "We are at war with the Dark Master, his forces and his allies. Said allies being the Kaiju, of course. Whilst they are the biggest and most well-known threat, the fighting against the Dark Master's armies hasn't stopped. I would not be surprised if, despite the recruiters being concerned only with our ability to use a Jaeger, we end up doing some fighting on foot."

Silence prevailed across the row, not just among his friends but all ten beings that sat in the row, once Kagan had finished. The gray dragon scanned the room, noting the scared and shocked expressions on their faces before sighing again and saying, "Its only a theory. It is also possible that we are going to the Shatterdome because it does have training facilities, and that they would be able to pull us from training and put us onto the battlefield right away if they get a new Jaeger or lose a pilot."

People accepted this idea much more easily and relaxed, turning away to talk amongst themselves. Ember, however, turned to Kagan anxiously, rubbing the white bracer on her foreleg as she said, "You believe the first one more. You always say what you believe at the beginning."

When Kagan simply nodded in answer, Ember let out a shaky breath, saying, "I really, really wish you weren't so good at this prediction of yours, as then I would blissfully be able to believe in the second theory and simply disregard the first like the others."

"Hey, if it does come to that, I'll keep you safe, don't you worry about that," Flame said, putting his claw over hers, his orange bracer gently clinking against Ember's. When she turned to look at him, the fire dragon gave her an encouraging smile. After a few moments of hesitation, she returned the smile softly herself. The two said nothing, just drawing strength and comfort from one another's presence.

"Oh, will you two get a room!"

The two dragons lurched apart at the rather rude interruption to their little moment. Ember looked away, glad that her pink scales would hide her blush. Meanwhile, Flame swung his head around to the one that had interrupted them, also glad of his colouration."SPARX!"

"What? Everyone was thinking it."

"When I get out of this harness, I am going to eat you!"

"Why wait?" Sparx replied, moving to hover directly in front of Flame. When he took the invitation and snapped at the dragonfly, Sparx easily twisted away. "Come on, I thought you wanted to eat me?" he taunted, only to dodge out of the way of the second snap.

Spyro sighed as his brother and best friend started making a large racket once again, muttering quietly,"This is going to be a long trip..."

X

"That didn't take too long," Sparx said cheerfully from his place on Spyro's head behind his horn, clutching hard as Flame tried to kill him with just his eyes. The purple dragon just let out a small sigh at his brother's response, wishing once again that Sparx wasn't so annoying at his default means of interacting with others.

"I'm just glad we're all in the same group," Spyro said as he doubled-checked the tag he had been given. I-117. Spyro first thought that the numbers were just counting upwards so it meant how many people were assigned to group I, which was more than he had expected, but after examining his friend's tags, he realized that this wasn't the case.

"We are friends and Jaegers are all about relationships, so it make sense," Kagan said as he idly played with his own tag, I-616. His comment about them all being friends made Flame snort and mutter something under his breath in response, though Ember gave him a sharp nudge even for not hearing it, causing him to roll his eyes.

"I wish I knew what was up with the numbers, though. There's no rhyme or reason to them," Flame said as he inspected his tag, I-558, frowning slightly as he tried to see what connected them all together.

Ember just glanced at her own card, I-575, before saying. "I wouldn't be surprised if they're just random numbers. I doubt they have significant reason behind them."

The conversation might have continued afterwards, but people began to arrive into the main hall where the groups of fifty were waiting. There were eighteen in all, of different species, shapes and size, but what was more important was that there were eight pairs and two individuals.

"The remaining Jaeger pilots," Kagan noted quietly as they approached the groups. A large and familiar red dragon approached their own group, making Kagan add, "And at least we know what the 'I' stands for now."

Spyro swore that Ignitus' gaze rested on him for a few moments before he reached the group.

"If you would all come with me, please," Ignitus said before turning and walking away, leaving the group with a simple choice. Glancing around, it would quickly be noted that the other groups were being led by the pilots as well, and the group of around fifty individuals that they were in soon began to follow after Ignitus as well.

"It's a pleasant surprise that we are with Ignitus," Flame noted quietly as they followed him.

Kagan arched an eye ridge at the comment, saying,"It's no coincidence. After all, I'm an anomaly, and you are an...acquaintance of mine. Plus, you and Spyro were the best out of the group he could observe. Oh, and you and Ember are fire dragons, so he could easily teach you."

"And Spyro, why do you always leave him out? He's a fire dragon as well." Kagan didn't reply, getting an angry shake of his head before Flame said, "Fine, you made your point. Is there anything else you want to add?"

"I might need to borrow the bracers," the gray dragon said simply, getting a look of shock from the others. Spyro gave his blue bracer a quick glance at Kagan's comment. They were of...important significance to them all, so for Kagan to ask for them...

"Why? I know you made them for us, but why do you want them?" Flame demanded to know, his voice raising and catching the attention of other members in the crowd...including Ignitus, though he was already keeping a subtle eye on that group as he led them deeper into the Shatterdome.

"I wish to add a little bit of...functionality to them," Kagan said after a small pause. His voice quiet so it wouldn't carry to the rest of the crowd, the bipedal dragon went on to say, "I'll only need them for half a day at most, and I'll return them to you all in good condition, maybe even as good as new. I simply know that we are going to war, and even something sentimental should be of practical use. Especially something you're likely to always keep wearing."

"Including yourself?" Spyro asked, glancing at Kagan's arms. They appeared to be completely bare, but he knew better. They all knew better Though it was never discussed, it was an encouraging sign that Kagan did have emotions deep down inside of him, and it was why Sparx and Flame still bothered with him at all, despite their annoyance.

"Yes, including myself," Kagan said quietly.

The other three dragons shared a glance between themselves before Spyro spoke up once more. "Fine, once we've gone through debriefing and dismissed, I'll give my bracer to you. Hopefully you'll have enough time to get it adjusted by tomorrow."

"I'll give mine as well," Ember said softly, whilst Flame said bluntly, "I'm gonna wait until I'm sure you'll be able to return it to me by tomorrow."

Kagan simply nodded in acceptance to these answers, appearing neither pleased, disappointed or even satisfied, a blank slate as he usually was. Not long after these decisions were made, the group arrived at their location. It was a large open room, cylindrical in shape, much taller than it was long or wide. The walls seemed strangely dark, apart from the one section directly in front of them, which housed a mech that reached all the way up to the ceiling.

"Gipsy Danger... Ignitus's second Jaeger, the last remaining Generation Three Jaeger as well as the only rune-powered Jaeger in service. Been in combat for around ten years and has racked up a kill count of seventeen Kaiju in its time," Kagan said quietly as he observed the Jaeger in front of them.

Whilst he spoke, Ignitus climbed up onto a small stage that had been set up in the room and turned to face the crowd that he had led there. "Welcome, one and all, to launch station I, a location that some of you will become familiar with in a few days' time. I'm sure most of you are wondering why you are here, and I wouldn't be surprised if some of you are pondering why you are being recruited in such numbers, even though the Jaegers are being destroyed quicker than they can be constructed. And to that, I will answer with another question. Why do we have Jaegers in the first place?"

This question caused the crowd to really start talking amongst themselves. Spyro and Sparx exchanged a look of confusion, whilst Flame and Ember reflected their surprise at the question. Kagan himself appeared neither confused or surprised, but instead, somewhat contemplative. Ignitus allowed the crowd to keep talking for a minute or so before he spoke up, his loud voice cutting through the noise and causing the crowd to quieten down.

"We have the Jaegers because our own strength and power was not enough to stop the Kaiju, that whilst a prolonged effort could eventually fell such a beast, many would die before it was defeated. The Jaeger's match give us the size and strength necessary to combat them on equal footing, but they cost a lot of time, labour and resources to create, even with the advances in technology to aid us. Because of this, and how the original Kaiju fell, a new question has arisen. What if there was another way to defeat the Kaiju? A cheaper, quicker way, that does not rely on us being able to fight them equally, but of a power to be a threat to them?"

Ignitus did not give the crowd time to reflect and discuss the question he had presented to them. Instead, he spread his wings out wide behind him. From either side of the Jaeger, lights lit up, revealing two smaller mechs set in alcoves in the walls. Another two further round the walls were revealed, and finally one directly behind them, its legs on either side of the opening they'd come through just minutes ago.

After this, a second ring lit up above the first, revealing another set of five mechs. Then a third ring, and a fourth, and at the top of the room, a fifth. Twenty-five new mechs in all, smaller than the Jaeger, but still significantly bigger than even Ignitus, a show of power designed to awe the crowd into silence...and it worked effectively.

Ignitus looked over the young adults and smiled slightly to himself as he studied the new mechs. Dramatics like this weren't his thing, but they were insisted on, and he could see that it was having a powerful effect on the group. So, he grudgingly and silently admitted that perhaps they were right to have such dramatics before he spoke up once more.

"What you see before you is the first generation of what have been dubbed 'all-purpose mechs.' Although designed for battle, it is thought that in the future, these will be the foundation of putting mechs to economical and community use, instead of simply military. As for now, they are equipped with the latest in military technology, including new gem-powered recharging energy shielding that significantly increases their durability, and a new generator that requires recharge once a decade."

"They are five times smaller than a Jaeger, but cost twenty-five times less to create and one hundred and twenty-five times less to maintain. It is these mechs that you have been recruited for and, alongside the remaining Jaeger pilots, we will take the fight to the Kaiju themselves! I present to you all, the Jaeger Hounds!"


	4. Chapter 4

"I don't get it," Flame said, looking around the room they were in, a lounge area that was connected to five off-shooting bedrooms. The four friends were all gathered together - Sparx was taking a nap in Spyro's room - but had not yet seen the fifth member of the group. They suspected it was another dragon like themselves.

Kagan rolled his eyes at Flame's comment, muttering, "What a surprise."

The red dragon shot Kagan a glare at this before turning to the others, knowing they would actually listen to him. "Why did they bother testing us to make a neural handshake and pilot a Jaeger if they're just going to make us pilot these new Jaeger Hounds by ourselves?"

Even Kagan paused at this, grudgingly admitting that it was a good question.

"Well...if a new Jaeger is made, or a pilot is lost, they'll probably be replaced by a Jaeger Hound pilot, as they'll have experience fighting the Kaiju," Spyro offered hesitantly after a moment's silence, getting a nod from Flame and Ember.

"That does make sense. They're making those Jaeger Hounds quickly. Having an excess of pilots for them so they can be filled quickly is a good idea, and it keeps replacements close."

Ember added, again getting nods of agreement from the other two quadrupedal dragons, but nothing from Kagan.

He was silently musing to himself and only said something when he realized the three others had turned expectantly towards him. "Those are valid reasons, but I think they might be looking to have the Hound pilots have a smaller mental link with one another. Not a full-on neural handshake, but a mental link all the same."

"A smaller mental link? Is that possible?" Flame said, his eyes widening slightly as he glanced at the others, who had similar wide eyes.

The gray dragon simply shrugged saying, "Again, it's only a theory. But I doubt the fact that they decided to make the Hounds five times smaller is a coincidence. Early war experiments revealed that people can only have a mental link with five others before they have a breakdown. Though, admittedly, most start to break down at four links. So if they do have a distant, light mental link, five links is the maximum amount."

"I forgot about that..." Spyro said quietly, recalling what they had learned about the war in school. It wasn't exactly history, as the war was still ongoing. Instead, they learned of the science and the technological advances brought on by the war, and the experiments done to obtain the important information.

"People are more interested in the stories of the pilots and the Jaegers than the science and technology behind it," Kagan said with a shrug, not at all surprised that the others had forgotten, "You're a smart guy, Spyro, but you're gentle as well. Something as morbid as that experiment isn't something you're likely to want to remember."

"And someone as creepily emotionless as you is the perfect type of person to remember something so morbid."

"Actually, it's because-"

"You have a near photographic memory, yeah yeah. I know, I know." Flame rolled his eyes before turning to the others, ignoring Kagan as he said, "Anyway, we won't really know what's going on until they tell us. So how about we just focus on what we do know for now?"

Wisely ignoring that it was Flame who brought up the questioning in the first place, Spyro nodded in agreement. "Right, the selection process."

"Competition, Spyro, everyone can tell it's a competition. Your group wins, you're selected as Hound pilots; you lose, and you've got to wait."

Spyro winced slightly at this, then sighed. "Okay, I suppose it is a competition. Though not much of one when we only have one week worth of practice with the Hounds and simulations before they make their decisions."

"With the situation at the front as grave as it is, I'm honestly surprised that we have even been given a week as well, as I would have thought they'd want the Hounds out on the battle as quickly as possible to fight against the Kaiju."

"Maybe they've got something planned for them?" Spyro offered hesitantly. He wasn't that used to offering ideas for the group, but went on regardless. "I mean... If you keep something hidden, its to take your enemy by surprise, right? So maybe they've got something planned with the Hounds that isn't just using them to defend against the Kaiju?"

Flame and Ember looked at Spyro in surprise, whilst Kagan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. The purple dragon fidgeted uncomfortably as the silence stretched on for half a minute...a minute...two minutes...

"Maybe they plan to go for the rift," Kagan murmured quietly, not entirely aware he was speaking out loud, or that the other dragons in the room had snapped their attention to him. "They did so ten years into the war, as the size and emergent rate of the Kaiju was simply overwhelming, so they tried to attack the rift directly... They weren't able to close it down, but they definitely damaged it and forced Malefor to build that tower to stave off further attacks."

"And created that rift laser," Flame said, shivering a bit as he recalled the details about the weapon. "Seriously, trying to approach the tower and the rift is suicide, not to mention the tower seems pretty much indestructible. Why the hell do you think they would go for the rift?"

"Suicide? Perhaps not. The laser has a recharge time and the tower doesn't exactly have the best detection systems, either. Remember that the Jaegers that were successfully dropped didn't get zapped by the laser unless extremely close to the tower. That and, with how small the Hounds are, we might be able to get close to the tower and, thus, the rift."

"For all we know, Malefor's been improving on his tower's defences and detection so it can find Jaeger that are under the water now. I mean, seriously, it's a rather significant flaw to have," Flame said, feeling rather pleased at his logic in this moment, as he was normally left in the dust in these intellectual debates. He felt even more happy with himself when Kagan nodded in agreement.

"Yes, that is a rather large flaw. However, do consider that second attack on the rift occurred only months after the first, so it's still been about fifteen years since the rift laser has been fired. That means technology for us has advanced by approximately sixty years, so I would not be surprised if we have our own way of countering the rift laser by now, or a way of striking at the rift without coming inside of its range."

"That's assuming that the rift laser hasn't been upgraded too."

"True, but Malefor's forces do not use technology to the same degree as us. They are more focused on dark magic and that has a slower rate of advancement than technology. Add on the fact that they are winning and thus don't have the same pressing need as we do. I would not be surprised if striking against the rift now would be an acceptable risk instead of a suicide mission."

Flame scowled, knowing that he had nothing else to say to this. Once again, his arguments and reasoning had been completely demolished by Kagan. Though, his scowl was soon replaced by surprised as the gray dragon added, "Still, you did bring up strong reasoning and important points. You are definitely getting better at thinking things through, even on the spot."

The fire dragon blinked, unsure how exactly he should react to this. On one hand, he had still been dismantled by Kagan's brains, or at least that was how it felt, and he was a creepy emotionless guy. On the other hand, a compliment from Kagan was practically unheard of, and for Flame to do well intellectually was rather pleasing. Luckily, Flame didn't have to think of it too much, as the door to the lounge opened and admitted their final group member.

As Flame had suspected, the fifth member was indeed another dragon. A light blue dragoness, to be precise. Flame noticed that Spyro seemed a little star-struck, and the dragoness wasn't bad looking by far. She was sleek and deadly, with two horns coming out of the back of her head and one on each side. Her wings and underbelly were a bright-white, with exotic but not ugly markings on her head and shoulders, giving her an aura of mystery that added to her beauty.

It was after this that her cold blue gaze swept over Flame and the others. Her eyes were like chips of ice, carrying no emotion at all, only coldness. Flame had thought that being around Kagan for seven years or so would have gotten him used to emotionless people, but he was wrong. That gaze chilled them all to the bone, and Spyro's dreamy expression vanished in an instant. After seeing those eyes, only one was still able to speak.

"I am Kagan," the gray dragon introduced himself coolly, matching the new dragoness's gaze with ease as she turned to look at him. In fact, as Spyro turned to look at his adoptive brother, it was almost as if he was challenging her to something, but what? "The purple dragon is my adoptive brother, Spyro. The red dragon is Flame and his girlfriend is Ember, though they both insist they're friends."

"We are friends!" Flame snapped, Kagan's comment breaking him out of his funk as Ember looked away, just like always.

Kagan simply ignored that outburst to finish his introductions. "And the annoying dragonfly sleeping in the bedroom is Spyro's adoptive brother, Sparx."

Now that introductions were done, the four dragons turned back to the newcomer, if hesitantly, no one wanting to catch the cold gaze again as it swept over them, examining them in turn before returning to Kagan.

"Zero," the dragoness introduced herself before sweeping over to the final bedroom and stepping into it, closing the door behind her firmly. The group looked at the door for a few moments before Flame turned to the others.

"Okay, I take back everything I say about Kagan being creepy. SHE is creepy."

"I agree with Flame. I have never seen anyone so cold and closed before," Ember said softly, her gaze lingering on the door for a while, confusion and worry clear on her face as she considered what could have happened to Zero to make her like this.

"Which, considering the present company," Flame said, looking pointedly at Kagan as he spoke, "is say something."

"She's a soldier." Once more, Kagan drew the attention of the others as they looked at him in shock and surprise.

Flame shook his head a few seconds later, saying, "What is it with you and your weird big ideas recently? And what the Dark Master is your reasoning this time around?"

"She carries herself like a soldier. An upright position with legs spread equally apart. When standing, she appears stiff and tense, yet moves easily as if relaxed. Combined with her detached nature, it's like she's been in the war before and knows the full horrors and losses that come with it."

"But that's not possible," Flame protested at the end of Kagan's reasoning. "Anyone can tell that she's around our age, and even if she was older, she wouldn't have been stationed with us. That means she couldn't have fought in the war at all."

"I know," Kagan said, silencing the group, and his brow furrowed slightly as he turned to face Zero's bedroom door. "That's what confuses me. She carries herself like a soldier, yet she can't have been one. Maybe her parents were members of the guard and she got training from them, as it would explain how she carries herself. Yet, her cold detachedness... I don't think that can occur through a trauma liking losing your parents, or even having her home destroyed by the Kaiju..."

"I think its more likely she's had a rough life," Ember said softly, getting glances from the others as she spoke. "And I think you enjoy seeing us surprised, so you're seeing things that aren't there in order to surprise and amaze us."

Kagan was visibly taken aback by this, hearing the slight accusing tone in Ember's voice. Was she already protective and sympathetic for Zero? Either way, he soon recovered and shrugged. "Both of those suggestions are a possibility. I am a mortal, not a machine, after all."

"You could have fooled me," Flame said with a snort.

"We can always ask Ignitus about her," Spyro said. "I'm pretty sure that the pilots have information on everyone in their groups, and I think Ignitus would most likely be willing to share information about her with us."

Kagan and Flame nodded in agreement to the idea. Ember hesitated before nodding, though she spoke up as she did so. "She is part of Ignitus's group because she's with us, but I know for certain that she was not part of the group, and that we were not missing anyone as we had the same amount of people as the other groups did."

"And the mystery gets even larger," Kagan said softly at this before shrugging and saying, "Now even I think it's something simple. It's likely one of the others quit, or had to leave for one reason or another, and Zero was added to fill up the numbers."

"But where did she come from? She couldn't have come from Warfang if she wasn't part of our group, and there was no excess," Flame pointed out with a furrowed brow, though this expression changed when Kagan was swift to reply.

"Have you ever heard of the term 'Dome Orphan?'"

"Isn't that the term they use for children rescued during missions? The name is because they're kept at the battle domes until an orphanage can, or will, take them in, right?" Spyro replied, and was followed up on by Ember.

"I've heard stories about them... Sometimes the orphans stay around the battle dome for years until they have found an orphanage, and sometimes the kids run away from the orphanage and try to return to the battle dome. I've even heard that some of the domes allow the older kids to help out at the shatterdome in some of the non-combat roles."

"So, you think that Zero here is a Dome Orphan?" Flame asked, to which Kagan nodded.

"It makes sense. Not only is she an orphan that has encountered the dark forces, but with the war as harsh as it is now, it's likely that she has seen a lot of loss from those that have taken her in as well. Then her soldier-like attitude is something she could have picked up over the years from the actual soldiers, especially with how to cope with her loss and rough life."

"Changing your mind rather quickly, aren't you?"

"New information was presented, and it opened up more possibilities of Zero's past. The Dome Orphan was the most likely of the possibilities with the new information."

Flame muttered something at this before huffing and standing up. "Alright, fine, whatever. Now that we've met our final member, I'm going to bed. We're getting up early tomorrow, so I want to get plenty of sleep. Goodnight."

Without waiting for a reply, Flame slipped through his bedroom door and closed it. Ember soon stood up as well, saying, "He has a point, and I will follow his lead. Goodnight."

The pink dragoness left the lounge as well, leaving the two brothers alone. They silently shared a look before heading to their own bedrooms. Spyro carefully moved Sparx from his bed before settling down to sleep.

X

In the morning, the four dragons plus one dragonfly gathered together in the lounge. They waited five minutes for Zero to emerge before going down to the canteen for breakfast. The room was large and loud, packed with many people of many different species. From the looks of it, they were some of the last to arrive.

Scattered across the room were the various pilots and their groups at different tables. The majority of the tables were nearly full, with one or two having all fifty members already gathered together, talking, joking and laughing amongst themselves.

The five dragons quickly joined the line for the food and starting casually talking amongst themselves as the line moved steadily forwards. However, before they arrived, they were interrupted by a loud crash. A small griffin had been hurrying to his table and slipped, colliding with a large minotaur that had just gotten some dessert and was heading back to her table. Both of them dropped their trays, scattering the food across the floor.

"Sorry!" the griffin chirped as he scrambled to pick up the tray that he had dropped, only for a hoof to come down and slam it onto the floor, cracking it from the force. The griffin was forced to look up and confront the angry cow.

"Sorry isn't good enough, shortie." The minotaur snorted, ignoring how the griffin got rather ruffled at being called a shortie. "Get me some new dessert and maybe then I'll call it even."

Spyro could easily see how this would play out and turned to his hovering brother, saying, "Sparx, go get someone, like Ignitus."

The dragonfly replied with a salute, but his reply was cut off.

"No point." Zero's cold voice got everyone's attention away from the scene that was developing, though they still caught the griffin's reply.

"Go get it yourself!"

Seeing that she had everyone's attention now, the ice dragoness swiftly continued. "Until we've officially become pilots, they aren't going to treat us as soldiers. It's likely they'll treat us all like Dome Orphans, where they have a non-interference policy unless it starts getting serious. They don't have time to deal with drama, so they leave it to the kids to sort out themselves."

"Spyro 101," Kagan started, getting Zero's attention as Spyro turned back to the griffin, gritting his teeth when the minotaur swiped out the griffin's front legs, sending his front crashing to the floor. "Spyro does not tolerate bullying in any way, shape or form, and will step in to stop it."

As Kagan spoke, the purple dragon was already moving away from his friends as the minotaur stepped on the griffin's head, keeping him pinned to the floor.

"Now then. You are going to be a good boy and get me some more dessert, aren't you?" the female cow said menacingly, unaware of the purple dragon approaching.

Zero shook her head in disapproval as the griffin squirmed, trying to get out from underneath the minotaur's foot.

"I said-" the minotaur started, lifting up her hoof in order to stomp a little harder onto the griffin's head. She was interrupted when Spyro shoulder-checked her, sending her staggering and allowing the griffin to scramble to his feet and dart behind his saviour.

"Leave him alone," Spyro said firmly, showing not an ounce of fear as the minotaur recovered and sneered at him, even though she was bigger and beefier than him.

"Or what, purple boy? You'll fight me? I've fought dragons bigger and stronger than you and won. What makes you think you'll be different?"

"I'm not going to fight you," Spyro said, shocking the minotaur and Zero...and the rest of the crowd that had gathered, anticipating a fight. "It was an accident. There's no need to be so violent about it. Just accept an apology and move on."

The female cow recovered and sneered at him again. "And why should I listen to you?"

"Because it's the decent, sensible thing to do," Spyro said as if it was the most obvious thing in the word, not noticing the ice dragoness that had joined the nearby crowd as he continued. "What do you think this will do for you? Make your comrades fear you? Some might respect you, but most won't. And how do you think the pilots will take it, the real soldiers? I doubt they would look on you with approval. Especially as this type of behaviour does not encourage stable neural handshakes in the slightest."

"Shut up!" the cow bellowed angrily, her rage bubbling over as she realized just how right Spyro was and saw the crowd was agreeing with him. Trying to regain some pride, she swung a wild haymaker at the purple dragon. Spyro, caught by surprise, had no chance to dodge, block or even brace.

It never hit.

Zero moved like lightning, sliding forwards and whipping her tail around, knocking the minotaur's legs from under her and sending her crashing to the ground. The dragoness then whipped her tail round once more, the tip striking the minotaur's throat and stopping there.

"Pitiful. Resorting to anger and violence when you lost to reason," Zero said, looking scornfully down at the cow who lay winded on the floor. The ice dragoness lifted her tail and turned away, saying, "Hardly worth the effort."

She strode back towards her space in the line. Spyro watched her go with awe in his eyes before scrambling to join her.

"Th-"

"Don't," Zero cut him off coldly, not even looking at the purple dragon as he pulled up short. "You're a naive idiot with a hero complex. I only interfered so I don't have you slowing me down." Her cold gaze then swept over the others as she said, "That applies to all of you. Slow me down and I will cut you loose."

The dragoness then turned her back on them, completely shutting them out, leaving them to simply stare at her back with a mixture of emotions.

"Bitch," Ember muttered under her breath, drawing shocked looks from Spyro and Flame, whilst Kagan simply smiled in amusement. The pink dragoness continued regardless, saying, "Who does she think she is? Acting high and mighty simply because she's lived here? She's more than likely the weakest one of us."

"Actually, darling," Zero said, surprising them as she turned back to glare at the pink dragoness, her tail lashing. "I'm most likely the strongest out of all of you."

She quickly revealed her tag and number. I-303. "As I'm sure you idiots have no idea what this means, allow me to explain. The number at the beginning for a dragon shows what element they control. In my case, ice. Then you add it with the second number and take away the third to get the strength of the dragon. The lower, the stronger. And zero is by far the strongest, many times stronger than even those rated at one."

"Yeah, well, Spyro's minus six following those rules! That means he's much stronger than you," Flame shot back heatedly, uncaring of what it might mean to him and his friend to have such a strange rating. However, Zero simply smirked triumphantly.

"Let me guess, he's 117? Please, that's the worst tag that exists! It means that you're Ignitus' favourite. It doesn't reflect your level of power in the slightest. And do you know what's happened to every single person who has ever been chosen by the old idiot?" Zero's pure venom and sneering demeanor rattled the three dragons and dragonfly almost as much as her cold gaze had the other day.

Once more, only Kagan was able to speak. "And what has happened to those who have been Ignitus's favourites?"

"They became traitors," Zero said, obviously relishing her words and watching with malicious glee as it struck the group to their core...except for Kagan. "You may think that Ignitus is a wise and respected guardian, but in reality he's the worst of the lot. Every single dragon he's favoured has turned out to be a traitor in the end. No matter how good they may seem to those around them, no matter how much they denied it, they all turned traitor in the end. This group that Ignitus is heading? It's going to be watched very closely for traitors, and he's not trusted to be told anything for fear that he's a traitor himself. I would keep a close eye on your 'friend' if I were you. You never know just when he will turn on you."

With that, the ice dragoness turned away, leaving the group deeply rattled.


End file.
